By Alasdair Fotheringham

A magnificent sprint win for Mark Cavendish on the Champs-Elysees was not quite enough to earn the Manxman victory in the sprinters' green jersey competition, but yesterday's 15th stage win of his career in the Tour de France was still a dream ending to this year's race for the Briton.  Cavendish sped across the finish line in Paris with a good 20 metres of daylight between himself and his nearest rival, Alessandro Petacchi of Italy, and New Zealander Julian Dean.

Just as in 2008 and 2009, there is no doubt who is the top sprinter in the Tour and by Paris, Cavendish was closing the gap on Petacchi inthe green jersey competition almost as quickly as he roared towards the race's final finish line yesterday.